Saturday 26th April saw the first training session for the MRF Challenge crew, and on the whole I'm pleased to say it went very well!

We started off on the boat at 8 o'clock and spent an hour or so covering safety issues, and letting everyone get to know the boat and where everything will be stored.

The breeze was light so we started with light number 1 with a beat up towards Yarmouth so we could get a long spinnaker run with a few gybes thrown in as well. The tacking, gybing and general boat handling was generally very good, especially considering that this was the first time the whole crew had sailed together!

After lunch at anchor we set the heavy number 1 and a few crew changes were made. This system did not work as well, and after a spinnaker hoist and drop and genoa change done by peeling we all decided that everything had gone better the morning and had gone to pot in the afternoon. So we all know our positions for the Fastnet now!

After a drink back at Hamble we all left mostly at about 7pm. The next time we meet will be this Friday 2nd May for the RORC Cervantes Trophy, a 120 mile race from Cowes to Le Havre, so I will report back our progress when we return!

Regards,

Julian